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Johannesburg - The South Africa international cricket season gets under way at the Wanderers on Friday when the Proteas play England in the first of two Standard Bank Pro20 matches.
The Pro20 matches are the start of an important series against England. The Pro20s will be followed by five one-day internationals, and the series will culminate with four Test matches.
South Africa beat England both times they met in the ICC World Cup Twenty20 (T20) tournaments, first in South Africa in 2007 and then in England earlier this year. The T20 match that was scheduled to be played during South Africa's tour of England last year was washed out.
Smith said T20 matches were becoming increasingly important.
"From our perspective, we're really focussed on the two Twenty20s this weekend, and we want to do well in them," Proteas captain Graeme Smith said on Thursday. "We've trained well. We see it as the start of the summer - it's an 11-game summer against England and we want to start well.
"There are some new faces around the group who obviously want to do well and establish themselves, especially with the next (T20) world cup not so far away. There are some opportunities, and players are looking forward to performing and taking those opportunities."
Smith said the Twenty20 format could no longer be regarded as a bit of fun to start the tour.
"We want to succeed in all three formats of the game in this series," he said. "With Test cricket and one-day cricket having been around a long time, they are regarded as the pinnacle of tours, but with Twenty20 growing in international status, I don't think you can take it as a gimmick game any more - you really have to focus on it. It is a crucial part of the season."
Members of the English media questioned Smith about his attitude to Ryan McLaren, who signed a Kolpak agreement with Kent, but who has since become available again to play for South Africa.
"I think from our perspective, for him to have gained the experience he has done playing for Kent, facing the challenges he has faced there, has been almost like an academy for him," he said. "Players go over there and play county cricket and coming back as better players.
"I've been impressed with Ryan as a person, the way he's gone about his work. I guess Zimbabwe is never going to be a massive test of his skills but he's done things properly and he looks like a player who can add a lot to our environment, so it's nice to have him back."
England T20 captain Paul Collingwood agreed that the T20 matches were important at the start of the series, and that he believed the impetus would belong to the team that won them.
"We played South Africa in the world cup, and we know they're a very hard team to beat," he said. "The guys know what they've got to do, and we've got to go out there and do it."
He said the team would be very similar to the one that lost to South Africa ‘A’ in Bloemfontein on Tuesday. Although South African-born Kevin Pietersen has joined the England team, he will not play until the warm-up game in Potchefstroom next Wednesday, and bowling all-rounder Stuart Broad is recovering from a shoulder injury. England captain Andrew Strauss has withdrawn from playing Twenty20 cricket.
Collingwood said that despite the loss on Tuesday night, the feeling in the England camp was very positive after good performances in two warm-up matches.
"Our sole intention is to go out there and win," he said. "It's important tomorrow night that we keep that momentum going. The simple fact is that it's the start of a very good tour for us."
The match starts at 6pm on Friday.
The Pro20 matches are the start of an important series against England. The Pro20s will be followed by five one-day internationals, and the series will culminate with four Test matches.
South Africa beat England both times they met in the ICC World Cup Twenty20 (T20) tournaments, first in South Africa in 2007 and then in England earlier this year. The T20 match that was scheduled to be played during South Africa's tour of England last year was washed out.
Smith said T20 matches were becoming increasingly important.
"From our perspective, we're really focussed on the two Twenty20s this weekend, and we want to do well in them," Proteas captain Graeme Smith said on Thursday. "We've trained well. We see it as the start of the summer - it's an 11-game summer against England and we want to start well.
"There are some new faces around the group who obviously want to do well and establish themselves, especially with the next (T20) world cup not so far away. There are some opportunities, and players are looking forward to performing and taking those opportunities."
Smith said the Twenty20 format could no longer be regarded as a bit of fun to start the tour.
"We want to succeed in all three formats of the game in this series," he said. "With Test cricket and one-day cricket having been around a long time, they are regarded as the pinnacle of tours, but with Twenty20 growing in international status, I don't think you can take it as a gimmick game any more - you really have to focus on it. It is a crucial part of the season."
Members of the English media questioned Smith about his attitude to Ryan McLaren, who signed a Kolpak agreement with Kent, but who has since become available again to play for South Africa.
"I think from our perspective, for him to have gained the experience he has done playing for Kent, facing the challenges he has faced there, has been almost like an academy for him," he said. "Players go over there and play county cricket and coming back as better players.
"I've been impressed with Ryan as a person, the way he's gone about his work. I guess Zimbabwe is never going to be a massive test of his skills but he's done things properly and he looks like a player who can add a lot to our environment, so it's nice to have him back."
England T20 captain Paul Collingwood agreed that the T20 matches were important at the start of the series, and that he believed the impetus would belong to the team that won them.
"We played South Africa in the world cup, and we know they're a very hard team to beat," he said. "The guys know what they've got to do, and we've got to go out there and do it."
He said the team would be very similar to the one that lost to South Africa ‘A’ in Bloemfontein on Tuesday. Although South African-born Kevin Pietersen has joined the England team, he will not play until the warm-up game in Potchefstroom next Wednesday, and bowling all-rounder Stuart Broad is recovering from a shoulder injury. England captain Andrew Strauss has withdrawn from playing Twenty20 cricket.
Collingwood said that despite the loss on Tuesday night, the feeling in the England camp was very positive after good performances in two warm-up matches.
"Our sole intention is to go out there and win," he said. "It's important tomorrow night that we keep that momentum going. The simple fact is that it's the start of a very good tour for us."
The match starts at 6pm on Friday.
